UnitedHealth Group Inc Stock Was Bought By Options Traders

October 19, 2016October 19, 2016Peter Erickson

In today’s session UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH) registered an unusually high (243) contracts volume of call trades. Someone, most probably a professional was a very active buyer of the October, 2016 call, expecting serious UNH increase. With 243 contracts traded and 3564 open interest for the Oct, 16 contract, it seems this is a quite bullish bet. The option with symbol: UNH161021C00139000 closed last at: $0.25 or 21.9% down. About 1.41M shares traded hands. UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) has risen 14.80% since March 16, 2016 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 9.26% the S&P500.

Analysts await UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) to report earnings on October, 20. They expect $2.07 EPS, up 25.45% or $0.42 from last year’s $1.65 per share. UNH’s profit will be $2.11 billion for 17.49 P/E if the $2.07 EPS becomes a reality. After $1.96 actual EPS reported by UnitedHealth Group Inc for the previous quarter, Wall Street now forecasts 5.61% EPS growth.

UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) Ratings Coverage

Out of 15 analysts covering UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), 15 rate it a “Buy”, 0 “Sell”, while 0 “Hold”. This means 100% are positive. $169 is the highest target while $124 is the lowest. The $143.48 average target is -0.91% below today’s ($144.8) stock price. UnitedHealth Group has been the topic of 19 analyst reports since September 2, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. Mizuho maintained the stock with “Buy” rating in Friday, November 20 report. The stock of UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) has “Buy” rating given on Friday, April 8 by Cleveland. The firm has “Buy” rating by Argus Research given on Friday, July 22. The stock of UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) earned “Strong-Buy” rating by Vetr on Wednesday, September 2. Citigroup initiated the stock with “Buy” rating in Friday, October 2 report. The stock of UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) has “Overweight” rating given on Wednesday, September 16 by JP Morgan. The firm earned “Outperform” rating on Wednesday, December 16 by Credit Suisse. Mizuho maintained the shares of UNH in a report on Wednesday, October 19 with “Buy” rating. The firm has “Outperform” rating by RBC Capital Markets given on Wednesday, July 20. FBR Capital maintained it with “Outperform” rating and $130 target price in Thursday, November 19 report.

According to Zacks Investment Research, “UnitedHealth Group Inc. offers health care coverage and related services to help people achieve improved health and well-being through all stages of life. The company’s products and services reflect a number of core capabilities, including medical information management, health benefit administration, care coordination, risk assessment and pricing, health benefit design and provider contracting. With these capabilities, it is able to provide comprehensive health care management services through organized health systems and insurance products.”

Insitutional Activity: The institutional sentiment decreased to 0.92 in Q2 2016. Its down 0.02, from 0.94 in 2016Q1. The ratio fall, as 55 funds sold all UnitedHealth Group Inc shares owned while 466 reduced positions. 94 funds bought stakes while 386 increased positions. They now own 805.88 million shares or 5.42% less from 852.02 million shares in 2016Q1.
Lincoln Natl Corp holds 0.02% of its portfolio in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) for 2,696 shares. State Of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D holds 0.24% of its portfolio in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) for 374,828 shares. Robeco Institutional Asset Bv last reported 0.47% of its portfolio in the stock. Burnham Asset Management Ny holds 0.59% or 15,000 shares in its portfolio. Meeder Asset accumulated 34,950 shares or 0.46% of the stock. Cincinnati has invested 1.02% of its portfolio in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH). Burney holds 158,141 shares or 1.6% of its portfolio. Marshall Wace Limited Liability Partnership holds 0.85% of its portfolio in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) for 718,220 shares. Community Trust Invest Com accumulated 2.42% or 134,742 shares. Trust Company Of Virginia Va, a Virginia-based fund reported 73,428 shares. Dana Inv Advsr has 1.53% invested in the company for 243,881 shares. Vsr Serv last reported 0.07% of its portfolio in the stock. The Iowa-based Miles Cap Inc has invested 0.5% in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH). The Illinois-based Forester Cap Mgmt has invested 4.59% in UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH). Gabelli Funds Ltd Company holds 216,900 shares or 0.18% of its portfolio.

Insider Transactions: Since April 20, 2016, the stock had 0 insider buys, and 3 sales for $9.41 million net activity. Shares for $3.23M were sold by BURKE RICHARD T. $674,355 worth of UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) was sold by BALLARD WILLIAM C JR. The insider Shine Kenneth Irwin sold $127,266. WILENSKY GAIL R sold $768,924 worth of UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) on Friday, June 10.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is a diversified healthcare company. The company has a market cap of $147.43 billion. The Firm operates through four divisions: UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx. It has a 21.39 P/E ratio. The Firm conducts its activities through two business platforms: health benefits operating under UnitedHealthcare and health services operating under Optum.

UNH Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, incorporated on January 25, 1977, is a health and well-being company. The Companyâ€™s business platforms include UnitedHealthcare and Optum. UnitedHealthcare provides health care benefits to various clients and markets. Optum is a health services business serving the health care marketplace, including payers, care providers, employers, Governments, life sciences companies and consumers. The Companyâ€™s business platforms have four divisions: UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx.

More notable recent UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) news were published by: Forbes.com which released: “UnitedHealth Group Absorbs Obamacare Losses As Optum Profits Soar” on October 18, 2016, also Wsj.com with their article: “UnitedHealth Group Earnings: What to Watch” published on October 17, 2016, Fool.com published: “Why Harley-Davidson, MakeMyTrip Limited, and UnitedHealth Group Jumped Today” on October 18, 2016. More interesting news about UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) were released by: Schaeffersresearch.com and their article: “Buzz Stocks: Goldman Sachs Group Inc, UnitedHealth Group Inc, and IBM Corp.” published on October 18, 2016 as well as Bloomberg.com‘s news article titled: “UnitedHealth Accused of Gouging Customers on Prescription Drugs” with publication date: October 05, 2016.